IRS tax scams top list for most common scams in 2015
With the end of 2015 just around the corner, the Better Business Bureau released its annual list of the top 10 scam types of the year. By a large margin, IRS tax scams were the most common scam faced by Americans
Here’s a list of the most common types of scams on a national level:
Scam Type Scam Reports Percentage Tax Scams (IRS) 2,413 24.0 Debt Collections 835 8.3 Sweepstakes/Prizes/Gifts 811 8.0 Tech Support 608 6.0 Government Grant 574 5.7 Advanced Fee Loan 388 3.8 Credit Cards 306 3.0 Work from Home 261 2.6 Fake Check/Money Order 242 2.4 Lottery 241 2.4
“IRS scams are the most popular because almost everyone pays their taxes,” said Samantha Gillihan, a representative from the BBB. “People are getting calls saying that they were behind on taxes, or that they were filed improperly and that legal action was going to be taken against them.”
“They’re very assertive, they’re very aggressive, and they’re whole purpose is to scare people to make a spur of the moment decision to make this decision based upon this fear,” said Josh Searle, a certified public accountant with Searle Heart and Associates.
Searle said as people have become smarter about email scams, many scammers have turned to over-the-phone methods. Which, in the IRS’ case isn’t how they work.
“Never will you find where they (the IRS) just contact you saying, “hey you owe us $2,800, and you need to pay it today or we’re going to throw you in jail,” said Searle. “99.9 percent of the time, the IRS contacts you via mail. In very limited situations they may contact a taxpayer by phone, but only after they’ve been in contact and negotiation for awhile.”
Searle and Gillihan say the best thing to do is to never fall into the pressure to pay immediately. People need to verify who’s contacting them first, and research their options before making a large decision.
